Yeild the Heart
by tripchick
Summary: Poor Harry is a lonely bastard. Luna tries to fix that. A bit stupid. A lot fluffy. HPLL


**A/N:** I realize I should be continuing on with "Paint All the Roses Red", but I am in desperate need of a lighter, less strenuous story to write. I suggest listening to BoA's "Every Heart", since that's exactly what I was listening when I conjured my little baby.

**Yield the Heart**

Harry Potter was finding the looming Christmas to be rather lonesome, as both Ron and Hermione [who had of late- and in most people's opinion, _finally_- became a couple] were far too absorbed in their own "activities" to note that they had left their best friend unaccompanied in the Gryffindor tower. Even Ginny, who had promised to keep him company, was going about her own business with her latest boyfriend in Hufflepuff. They had all ditched him for a_-_ because of _hormones_! Harry could not see what all the fuss was about, thrusting your tongue into other people's mouths.

Certainly, _his_ first and _only_ kiss was no fun.

Thoroughly irked at his friend's lack of attention to him, he had spent the day pouting about the castle and shooting foul looks at passing children.

"_I _hear he's related to You-Know-Who…" a stupid little first year whispered to her friend.

They both shot him a terrified look, and he snarled at them. Harry knew he should not be bothered by this- he was far too used to it now, since it has been recently revealed that the Dark Lord indeed _was _back. Rumors were spread and garbled through the rumor mill, and he had even heard a poor fourth year girl insisting to her boyfriend that "You-Know-Who is really a woman, and he's undercover at a stripper club near Liverpool". Harry snorted, despite himself.

As the day wore on, Harry continued to frighten the younger years, and ignore those in his own year or higher. He damaged school property, managed to convince a second year Ravenclaw that his animagus form was indeed that of a dandelion, and popped by the kitchen during mealtimes as to avoid his lovesick friends- it was their punishment for ignoring Harry for the entire holiday so far.

This pastime did not bring any pleasure to Harry's already depressing holidays though, and at dusk, quite certain that everyone was far too occupied somewhere in the castle snogging each other stupid to bother Harry in the common room, he listlessly made his way to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Mistletoe," Harry said sourly.

Even the paintings were in on the 'let's torment poor Harry with reminders that he is a lonely bastard' scheme.

"Why the long face, dear?" The Fat Lady asked perceptively, in a sort of maternal voice. Harry gave her a thoroughly foul look, but she continued to speak, still not revealing her portrait hole. "Where's your little mates, you know, Ron and Hermione?" Harry certainly did not need that reminder, and he gave an involuntary shudder as he imagined them- _well_…

"Snogging like there's no tomorrow," Harry replied rudely. "Now open up!"

Harry opted to disregard the cross look on the Fat Lady's face at his impolite tone of voice, and clambered into the common room, quite set to spend the evening brooding in front of the fire. And when they all decided to remove their tongues from each other's mouths, he certainly would _not_ greet them with a sunny smile. This thought of retaliation made Harry feel slightly better as he curled onto the couch closest to the fire, and stared out of the nearby window at the thick sheet of snow falling to the ground.

He couldn't help but stare bitterly at the intensely romantic setting.

It wasn't as if he was cynical about _love_. It had to do more with the fact that romance seemed to prefer pissing all over his heart. Well, at least in the one, rather disastrous semi-relationship that had seemed- at least to Harry- to be entirely one-sided. Cho had already moved on quite happily [Harry had the misfortune of walking in on her and her boyfriend in a rather compromising position earlier that week in a corner of the school]. He would never get over the image.

Was the entire school on drugs?

Harry certainly couldn't remember such a tumult of hormones _last _year.

There was a knock at the common room entrance, and Harry could hear the Fat Lady spluttering on the other side.

Hoping it was Neville forgetting the password [and therefore bringing him some needed company], Harry leapt to his feet, and opened the common room entrance to let him in… only to be faced with Luna Lovegood on the other side, arguing heatedly with the Fat Lady, seemingly not noticing Harry ogling her.

Harry stepped out of the common room. "Luna? What on earth are _you _doing at this end of the castle?"

"Hello Harry Potter," Luna said, taking notice of him, her eyes popping. She was dressed in her heavy cloak, gloves and bobble hat, her brand new celery earrings poking out. "I was wondering if you'd like to go down to the lake with me. The Winged Kokopelli will be growing there soon."

Harry merely ogled at her, not quite sure if he wanted to know what a Winged Kokopelli _was_.

Luna frowned at him. "Nargle caught your tongue?"

Harry frowned, remembering what she had said about Nargle's in mistletoe the year before. "No," Harry said indignantly.

"Well then," Luna said brightly, smiling. "Go get your cloak and come catch a Kokopelli with me!"

Harry grinned, despite himself. Luna's excited attitude about everything was infectious, and [remembering his manners], he helped Luna climb through the portrait hole ["Finally", the Fat Lady sighed in relief as she swung down], said, "wait here", and ran to his dormitory. He quickly pulled on his cloak and grabbed his wand, gloves and mittens. As he began walking towards the door out to the staircase, he stopped at the mirror and hurriedly attempted to flatten his hair in vain, before mentally smacking himself.

He was flushed red, as if he had run a marathon. Honestly. Who was he trying to impress, anyway? It was only Luna after all. She had become a very good friend over the past couple of months, and she was so insane that it kept _his_ sanity… there was no reason to try and look nice for a good, slightly nutters friend. Right? Right. And what would people _think_?

Harry went down the stairs, and stood at the bottom of the staircase. Luna didn't notice him immediately, as she was incredibly intent on studying a tapestry hanging on the far end.

"_Er-_ Luna?" Harry asked from where he stood, and she jumped, but quickly recovered.

"Come here!" Luna said excitedly, her eyes popping madly.

Harry walked to where she stood, confused slightly, and stared at the tapestry she was so intent on. There were several grotesque images that Harry did _not_ wish to see, and he wrinkled his nose in distaste as the head of a blonde woman was unceremoniously chopped off. Harry found himself feeling slightly sick at the gore, for once not-at-all fascinated by the wonderful spellwork. Luna had grabbed onto his arms, eyes shining frantically.

"Do you have _any _idea what this is?"

"No," Harry said, and he cowered at her incredulous look, as if _he _had done something wrong.

"It is," Luna said dreamily, spinning around, her arms in the air, "the accounts of the fall of Lady Van Thournout, the love of Gryffindor himself."

"I thought that was a myth," Harry said, frowning as he stared at the tapestry, clearly not seeing it in the same light as Luna.

"I'm a descendent of Lady Van Thournout you know," Luna said seriously, ignoring what Harry had said.

Harry tugged at her arm. "Let's go find the Kokopelli thing…"

Luna [who Harry had learned had the attention span of a fly], nodded eagerly, and led the way out of the common room ["Really!" the Fat Lady protested]. Harry, who was naturally better acquainted with this part of the castle, led Luna through the twists and turns of secrets hallways behind tapestries, trick doors and problematic staircases until they reached the Entrance Hall several minutes later. Harry pulled on his hat and gloves, and he and Luna switched roles as _she _led the way to the lake, where [as Luna put it], "the Kokopelli really enjoys to nest".

Though on a normal basis, Harry had little trouble talking with Luna, but today he couldn't think of a thing to say to break the awkward silence. Luna didn't seem to mind though, and Harry felt vaguely relieved at this, but this only left him to worry about _why _he couldn't seem to spit anything out.

The cold was numbing his brain, which he was grateful for, and he couldn't help but steal small glances at the positively adorable look of exhilaration on Luna's face. Of course, this didn't mean anything at all, Harry insisted to his head. The snow was still falling thickly, and the castle seemed almost concealed in the thick layer between the two students and the school. It was becoming steadily more difficult to walk through the waist high snow…

They had reached the lake. Harry, thinking they were at their destination, stopped, but Luna grabbed his hand and dragged him out to the middle of the lake, where she sat down. Harry's fingers were tingling. "This is where we wait," she said, and Harry sat down next to her, feeling slightly nervous that the ice was going to break, and increasingly cold.

"Where exactly does it nest?" Harry asked, shivering.

"On the lake," Luna said simply, laying onto her back, and closing her eyes.

Harry couldn't help but notice that Luna was very pretty indeed.

He peered at her closely. There was something dimly different about her. Luna's hair was a bit straighter, shinier, and her lips redder. This uncharacteristic display of hygiene caught him off guard, but he found himself relieved to see she was still wearing her Butterbeer bottle cap necklace. Before Harry could stop himself, he fingered the necklace fondly [she didn't seem to mind, but she _did _shift slightly under the pressure of his hand], glad for the first time that she was a crazy lunatic.

"Are you sure it's safe out here?" Harry asked, looking mistrustfully at the lake surface. "Will it break?"

"No," Luna said confidently, cracking one eye open. "Dumbledore doesn't expect us to stay off the lake, so he charms it."

Harry only managed an unintelligent "oh".

He lay back next to her, and shifted until they were shoulder-to-shoulder. Harry suddenly felt a tingling sensation throughout his body as he felt her presence so close to him. Her body was radiating heat, and Harry was beginning to feel his face warm and his fingers tingle as he became unnaturally stiff, as if afraid of touching her by accident, or moving away from her. Harry swallowed loudly, but Luna didn't seem to notice, which Harry was deeply grateful for. "So…" Harry's voice came out as a squeak. He cleared his throat. "Why did you ask me to come?"

"You were lonely," Luna said dismissively. "And so was I."

"I was _not_," Harry said brusquely.

"No need to be _boorish_," Luna snapped, sounding alarmingly like Hermione for a moment.

Harry sighed. "Sorry, it's just…" he took a breath out, a cloud of steam forming above his mouth, and turned his head slightly so he could see her profile, her eyes no longer closed, but instead wide open, her eyebrows furrowed. It was very un-Luna-esqe, and it put Harry off for a moment as he collected himself. "How did you know I was lonely? I mean, Ron and Hermione had gone off snogging, so I guess you could have deducted that, being a Ravenclaw…" Harry shook his head. "Stupid question."

"No, it's not," Luna said in her usual dreamy manner, turning her head as well, so that they were now nose-to-nose. "I just knew. Female intuition I suppose…"

They fell into silence once again, and they both turned their heads up to look at the night sky. Harry was beginning to suspect that he wasn't the only one feeling increasingly uncomfortable in the situation, as Luna shifted next to him, and when Harry looked at her, her face was an unnatural shade of pink.

_Willpower, Harry, _he thought savagely, as Luna's gloved hand accidentally brushed against his arm. _Do not yield. All this romance shit is over-rated anyway… _He shifted uncomfortably as he steadily grew colder as the night developed, though Luna didn't seem to be succumbing to the endlessly falling snow that touched and melted on her face. His lips were frozen, but hers were still red, and Harry felt the mad urge to press his own to hers, steal her warmth…

_Cripes Potter_, Harry thought angrily to himself. _If you're going to yield, at least go for someone _else_. _Harry looked tentatively at Luna, who had closed her eyes tiredly again, and Harry groaned inwardly. Why on earth, of all people, did he have to get keen on Loony Lovegood? _I don't _want _someone else_, he thought suddenly. His conscious scoffed at him. _Love requires a leap of faith, Potter, something that _you _are clearly lacking. Follow your brain, not your damn heart… how will it look on you if the headlines five years from now is "_Potter Marries Lovegood Loony".

Harry couldn't help but grin at that. "_Potter Marries Lovegood_". Now there's a thought.

"I think we should start looking for it, it's almost midnight…" Luna said suddenly, and Harry gave a start.

He nodded, and Harry clambered up quickly to help Luna to her feet, Harry feeling even more tongue-tied than before.

Luna was keeping up her side of the conversation, but at this point all Harry could do now was manage a couple of grunts without throwing up. Harry felt even worse after realizing miserably that she probably thought he was a mute idiot now.

"Are you alright?" Luna asked, breaking into his thoughts, her slightly protruding eyes suppressed in a look of dreamy concern. She had stopped walking, and so did Harry.

"Just a bit cold," Harry said hoarsely.

Luna nodded, and without missing a beat, she took the edges of her over-sized cloak with her small hands, pulled the edges out slightly, and stepped in towards the unsuspecting Gryffindor sixth year, and wrapped her arms around his middle, creating a sort of makeshift cocoon. "You could get-" Luna took a breath here, "- frostbite in this weather." She was certainly straightforward. Harry decided he liked this bizarre, slightly normal and forthright side of Luna.

Harry could feel Luna shuddering against him, but he was sure it had nothing to do with the cold.

They stood like that for a while, Harry feeling extremely self conscious as he felt his palms produce a ridiculous amount of sweat, and it seemed like the rest of the world ceased to exist, the cold melting away from his skin, and he was acutely aware of her gloved hands pressing against his back. Harry breathed deeply into her hair, the mixture of potions and strawberries and cream causing his nose to tingle. He was awfully aware in the way that she fit perfectly into his arms, pressed against his body, her concealed, small breasts pressed against his chest, her hot breath on his neck, as if unsure what he was going to do in response to this extremely brazen action.

Harry was finding it difficult to breath from how tight he was holding her, but he did not loosen his grip, and instead pulled her closer, and he subconsciously sighed contently.

_You should be worrying about what everyone's going to think of you after this_, Harry's head told him. _No, _Harry thought to himself. _It shouldn't be anyone's business who I fancy, and if they can't accept that, then screw the. As a matter of fact, screw you too. _Harry, feeling much better after he told himself off, pushed the voice out of his head, though he supposed he knew all along that he would yield to his heart.

Harry pulled away from Luna, who was looking uncharacteristically flushed, and she looked away nervously, as if he were about to be demand what the hell she was thinking.

He smiled, and lifted her head up with his hand, and she stared at him into his eyes, and his heart began to thump abnormally fast.

Luna's lips were still red. He still wanted to kiss her.

He did.

Review! I _know_ it's only meant to be a ficlet, but if you guys like it enough, I'll continue on demand.


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